Things That Go Bump
by hootowl
Summary: Peace and tranquility disturbed. AU no real pairing, though I guess it's KxK and AxM


Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all other associated characters are owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki.

AN: I've actually had this story on my harddrive/brain since my senior year of college. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit it in with my other AU college series so I had to make it stand alone.

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**Things That Go Bump in the Night**

Kaoru startled awake to the sound of loud thumping. With a tired groan, she turned over, slapping around for her cell phone. The time. She needed the time. Across the room, Misao moaned, shifting the heavy blankets to peer into the darkness as the walls seemed to vibrate with the rhythmic thumping. "What time is it?"

Kaoru located her phone only to knock it to the floor. Finally, she found her phone and the soft glow lit up her face, her eyes screaming at the sudden light. Blinking her eyes to adjust, she groaned, slapping the phone closed and pulling her blankets closer to her chin. "It's three-thirty."

The night stilled and Misao mumbled a curse about the time into her pillow. Kaoru was just drifting back to sleep when the thumping started again in earnest. Misao shot upright with a frustrated exclamation. "What the _hell_ are they _doing_ up there? Jumping off their beds?"

Kaoru sighed, curling around her pillow and noting that the windows rattled in their frames. "Sounds like a party."

"Well, _we_ weren't invited!"

The thumping stopped again as suddenly as it started and Misao collapsed back into her pillow with a whine. "I've got a test tomorrow."

Kaoru grunted, stifling a yawn. "Me too. At eight. And a presentation at one."

They lay in silence for a while before Misao ventured. "Do you think it's stopped?"

"Sounds like it."

"Good. 'Night."

Kaoru hummed, already just about asleep when, suddenly, the thumping started again, louder than before. Misao leapt from her bed with a curse, snatching up a sweatshirt from her desk chair. "I'm going to tell them to shut up. Do you think it's above or below?"

Kaoru roused herself enough to lift her head to listen. "Above. The girls below are education majors. They go to bed at five."

"Not that early."

"Whatever."

Misao stalked to the door. "Damn freshmen."

"Sophomores."

"Shut up."

Kaoru snickered, snuggling into her pillow to await Misao's return. Several minutes later, she returned to the room, relieved to hear quiet but confused. "It wasn't them. There's no one in the room above us."

Kaoru watched as Misao crawled back into her bed. "That's strange."

Misao snorted, yanking her covers up. "Whatever." She settled down with a sigh. "I just want to sleep."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the odd sound started again. Kaoru groaned. "Fuck."

Misao gave an indistinct whimper. "Sleep."

"I think it's beside us."

Once again, Misao was out of bed storming across the room. "Well, I'm putting a stop to it."

She disappeared out the door. The thumping stopped and Kaoru sighed. The door opened and Kaoru could just hear indistinct voices. Five minutes later, Misao returned to the room, shutting off lights and falling back onto her bed. A moment later, Misao giggled. "Want to hear a funny story?"

"Sure."

"Apparently, when she has nightmares, she kicks the wall."

Kaoru snorted in disbelief. "Nightmares?"

"Yep!"

She waited for more but when nothing more came she attempted to prompt more. "She kicks the wall in her sleep?"

"When she has nightmares."

"She sounded awfully awake to me."

Misao shrugged. "She looked like she just rolled out of bed."

Kaoru snickered, pushing herself up on her elbows to look at her roommate. "That must've been _some_ nightmare."

Misao grunted an agreement, rolling into her blankets. Kaoru listened to her roommate's breathing even out before pulling her own pillow over her head and settling down to sleep. Nightmare, huh? She'd hate to see the wall.

^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^

At four o'clock that afternoon, Kaoru collapsed into the armchair next to Misao with a deep sigh. "It's over. I survived."

Misao glanced up from her laptop. "For real. I thought I was going to die during my test. I'm glad my second class was canceled."

Kaoru closed her eyes, throwing an arm over her head and sliding lower. "Lucky."

Megumi hummed without looking up from her notes. "Pull an all-nighter?"

Incredulous, Kaoru lifted her arm to first peer at Megumi and then at Misao. "You didn't tell her?"

Misao shrugged. "Give me a little slack. I didn't get much sleep last night."

Megumi frowned, abandoning her notes. "Tell me what?"

Kaoru closed her eyes again, motioning for Misao to tell the story. Without further prompting, the story spilled out in a rush of words, complete with hand gestures. When the flow of words slowed to a stop, Megumi raised an eyebrow, her voice betraying her surprise. "And you believed her?"

Misao sputtered. "Well, yeah!"

"Kaoru?"

"No."

Misao turned to her in surprise. "No? Then what do _you_ think it was?"

With a straight face, Kaoru looked her in the eye. "I may not be at my intellectual peek at four in the morning but that girl sounded _very_ awake to me. It certainly didn't sound like she just woke up from a nightmare."

Megumi could no longer keep her humor at bay. "Oh, Misao. You surprise me."

"What?"

"I'm not explaining this one, Megumi."

Misao's scowl darkened but Megumi had already moved forward and put an understanding hand on her shoulder. "What you interrupted, Misao, was definitely not a nightmare."

Thirty seconds of uncomprehending silence passed before Misao's jaw dropped. "Fuck."

"Exactly."

Kaoru's snicker turned to a full laugh when a deep blush spread across Misao's face and her voice rose. "Are you _shitting_ me?"

Megumi sat back with a smirk to watch the destruction of naivete. "I'm afraid not."

"Are you telling me I interrupted... I... oh _God_! I'm never going to be able to look at her again!"


End file.
